Topic: Home darkroom - first results

[Karl]

I posted back a few weeks ago about my dissatisfaction with my prints made in the communal darkroom. My home darkroom didn't take that long to set up as I had most of the gear lying around the house in bits. I've now had a couple of sessions making prints and I'm MUCH happier with the results. I've scanned in 2 prints here - the paler one is from the shared darkroom where I had used a split grade exposure with a fair amount of the time at G5. It was making very little difference to the final print. The darker print is at Grade 4 on Ilford MGWT Fibre paper. 2 mins in Acugrade at 20 degrees. The scans images don't look as smooth as the prints. I had to turn off all the exposure buttons and unsharp mask to make them representative of the prints.

I've still got lots to learn  But at least I've got a decent starting point with the home darkroom. I've run through a number of resin paper prints and the results are also much better.

Thanks for the advice from previous topics people!

[Nick Moys]

Great result Karl.  First print is really lovely.
Nick

[Karl]

Thank you. The horizon is irritatingly wonky though 

[Francois]

I use a scrap of photo paper (bad print) as a spacer for my focusing magnifier. To make things easier, I've drawn a large grid (# like tic-tac-toe grid) on the paper with a sharpie pen. That way, it's easier to align the easel in dim light

[Karl]

I use a scrap of photo paper (bad print) as a spacer for my focusing magnifier. To make things easier, I've drawn a large grid (# like tic-tac-toe grid) on the paper with a sharpie pen. That way, it's easier to align the easel in dim light

je ne comprend pas

[Francois]

Here's what I mean

[Steven.]

first one looks fantastic.

[LT]

Great stuff Karl - looks like it's paying off already - the contrasty one looks excellent to me

Thank you. The horizon is irritatingly wonky though 

Wonky Horizons are only a hinderance to camera club judges

[Karl]

Great stuff Karl - looks like it's paying off already - the contrasty one looks excellent to me

Thank you. The horizon is irritatingly wonky though 

Wonky Horizons are only a hinderance to camera club judges

Phew! And thanks, I'm very excited to have it up and running. Scanning the print doesn't offer much comparison to an Ilford Warmtone FB print but hopefully you can see what was happening and where I've got to. I toned some strips in selenium oner (1: last night and they look good, although veering away from the warm finish of the base paper. Nice though.

[Karl]

Here's what I mean

Ah I see. What a smart idea. The safelight is quite dim so it's hard to judge. I think I scanned the print slightly askew but the neg image isn't straight. I'll adopt your method, ta!